JUNE 2008 ONLINE EDITORIALS
Patchwork Blue – Darkside
By Nate Harper
Imagine if your church’s praise and worship band cut a pop album, what would it sound like? The guitars, either electric or acoustic, are mostly strummed with minimal distortion and the bass has a sort of simple thud like Paul Simon songs from the 80s. The drums are present but not overpowering, and the vocalist sounds like someone you’d be fine with your daughter dating. This innocuous sound, with few exceptions, is Patchwork Blue’s blueprint for their recently released five-song Darkside EP.
The title is a bit of a misnomer, taking its name from the studio it was recorded at as opposed to any sort of lyrical angst, or deal with a Jedi opposition group. The songs are well paced, the rhythm section is tight and vocalist Ryan Edwards can sing on key, but after repeated listens I just never heard the emotion that those big swells need to have or that make climatic finishes memorable. Maybe it was someone at the studio, who kept the needles from ever reaching into the red, and perhaps they infuse their songs with a little something more performing live...
Lyrically, Edwards clearly put thought and heart into his compositions, benefiting from his solo singer/songwriter work that he does along with Patchwork Blue. In the end though there’s just not enough variation in the songs and everything is just a little too nice and polished. There’s nothing wrong with nice, but it still needs intensity, too.